I would find it helpful to know what plants you leave standing over winter, which ones you cut back lightly, and which ones you cut to the ground. It's always a bit of a mystery to me. I'm trying to keep better notes of what I do each fall and how that works out, but my records are not very complete. Here's a start, and not all of my practices are perhaps the best. I'd welcome any discussions of how folks do things differently.
Leave standing: rudbeckia, aster, joe pye, grasses, sedum, hydrangea, peony, ferns
Cut back to 6" or less: most herbs and perennials (except as noted below)
Cut to ground: anything that shows some late summer basal growth
Just let melt: lily-of-valley, heuchera, hosta
After cleaning up as best I can figure out, I usually winter mulch with shredded leaves (if the weather cooperates, some years it is just too wet to get this done), using about 12" bamboo sticks to mark where plants are sleeping. It all looks nice and tidy until the chickens decide there are surely bugs under all those leaves... So, an added chore is to re-rake the leaves back into the beds now and again.
